A Matter of Trust
by Sheyrena Wyrsabane
Summary: Steve's trust in Fury is shaken after discovering the Phase 2 weapons, and he doesn't know who or what to believe in now that he's in a new, modern world. Who better to restore faith than a god? Steve/Thor friendship


A/N: Thank you so much for all the review on my first Steve/Thor story. I watched the movie and couldn't get over how perfect the potential was for friendship/maybe something more between these two, and I'm glad other people agree with me. Lots more of this pairing/friendship to come, hope you enjoy!

"I don't trust him," Tony said, his arms stretching across the back of his couch, his legs spreading to take up as much space as possible. Bruce edged closer to the armrest on his side of the couch, so he didn't get smacked by one of Tony's hands.

"We know," Natasha said, a heavy sigh in her voice.

They had been in Stark Tower, listening to Tony complain about Fury for the past two hours. They were all still skeptical about Fury's excuse regarding the Phase Two weapons, but with the Tesseract gone, that particular worry had been put to rest. It didn't change the fact that their belief in their leader had been compromised or that none of them knew exactly how to react to the information.

Tony thought it would be a good excuse to either disband the Avengers or to start doing their own thing. Clint and Natasha knew too much about SHIELD's operating policies to think that they'd be able to walk away from the Avengers Initiative. Fury would rather see them dead than go rogue, and he had enough connections and firepower that he could probably contain if not kill all of them if they crossed him.

"Well, I don't like it," Tony said. "We need to do something about it."

Natasha wasn't the only one to roll her eyes. He sounded like a petulant child who wasn't getting his way. This was why the Avengers Initiative had initially been benched. Tony Stark did not play well with others, and he played especially poorly with authority. Natasha was only surprised it took this long for him to seriously start considering jumping ship.

"Why can't we stick with the current plan?" Clint asked. He was sitting with Natasha on the couch opposite Tony, tapping an arrow absentmindedly against his leg.

"What, spy on SHIELD and hope they don't do anything we can't see?" Tony asked.

Even Bruce gave a snort of derision on that one. "Fury has to know we're watching him. He's either going to feed us false information or find somewhere else to conduct the shady stuff." He held up a hand before Clint could start arguing with him. "I'm not saying I agree with Mr. Solo over here, but I don't think things can stay the way they are."

"There's no middle ground," Clint said. "You of all people should know that."

Bruce snapped the rubber band he'd started wearing around his wrist. He didn't think it would actually help him if he got angry enough to Hulk out, but it was a nice reminder to keep calm. It was also a pretty good threat. Clint's eyes honed in on the rubber band, and he subtly shifted into a more defensive position, readjusting his grip on the arrow in case he needed to use it as a weapon.

Steve slipped out of the room while they started arguing about who was the most volatile out of all of them. He knew that unity and cohesion was necessary for a team, but he couldn't bring himself to try and sort them out right now. The few times he'd tried in the past few days, a few well-placed barbs by Stark had gotten Steve ready to start fighting. He was ashamed to admit it, but he didn't have the self-control right now to be a good leader. He was too conflicted.

Steve had led men back during WWII, but that had been different. He had a mission that he believed in and a commanding officer he could trust. He was a soldier and had been trained to follow orders, but Fury was complicating that for him, because Steve also had a conscience.

He couldn't describe his feelings when he'd seen the weapons Fury had aboard the ship, ones made to be powered by the Tesseract. Betrayal didn't quite cover it. It was something deeper. Steve had seen what those weapons could do first hand. He had seen hundreds of men die trying to keep that kind of technology out of the wrong hands, and as far as Steve was concerned, any hands were the wrong hands for that kind of power.

He knew that he wasn't the brightest in the group as Tony was happy to remind him constantly, but even he knew using technology that was being used to destroy the Earth to try and save it wasn't a good idea. Plus, he didn't trust Fury. He knew that he should. Every soldier owed their loyalty and trust to their superior officers, but maybe he wasn't as good of a soldier as he thought he was.

Or maybe this was another area where the world had changed while he'd been sleeping. He had thought the army would be his one constant, the one thing that would never change. There was order and discipline, a pattern to expect, rules to follow. But everything was all jumbled now. Their commander was keeping secrets and working on questionable projects. Not that the Avengers were a real military unit. They were a time-bomb, an experiment that could blow at any moment.

Steve dropped down to the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. Everything was happening too quickly. He had been asleep for so long, and his world had lost all sense. The things he was supposed to believe in were being questioned. Was it a test of his faith? Of his capability? Should he push doubt aside and simply follow orders? Or should he trust in his feeling that something wasn't quite right?

He wished he had some of Bruce's intelligence or Tony's confidence. He wanted to believe in himself, but he was just muscle. It was Tony and Bruce who were the brains and Fury who made the plans. Steve was supposed to make sure the plans were followed and that each mission was successful. So why was he questioning?

"I do not like it when they quarrel," Thor said.

Steve looked up to see him standing in his doorway. He wondered how long the demi-god had there. Long enough to question whether Steve was a capable soldier?

"This must be a pretty miserable place for you then."

Thor smiled. "It is frustrating at times. Back at Asgard, I simply had to raise my voice and everyone would quiet to hear me. It is not the case here."

"A lot of strong personalities," Steve said, flopping down his bed. He didn't care that it looked like he was giving up. "Probably why no one wanted the Avengers to come together in the first place."

"Except Fury."

Steve sighed. "Except Fury." Was it a coincidence that when Fury was told no, the circumstances arose that required the Avengers? It had to be. Not even Fury was crazy enough to contact Loki and try to get him to destroy Earth just to put together a mis-matched team of superheroes.

"It bothers you more than you say," Thor said, stepping into the room even though he wasn't invited.

"What? That we're quite probably being manipulated by Fury? Of course it bothers me. Doesn't it bother you?"

Thor's eyebrows pulled together. "I do find it irritating that a mortal attempts to control me, but that is different than how you feel."

"How do you know what I feel?" Steve snapped.

He was taking the Fury situation pretty hard, though they all were just in their different ways. Natasha was handling it the best, because she had always had trust issues so she had been expecting this to happen, and she was pissed that it happened, but resigned. Clint had been under Loki's mind control when they found out about the weapons, and he was going through a period of self-doubt because of Loki's manipulation that made him direct all his self-hate at Fury.

Tony had never trusted Fury and he mostly seemed annoyed, like Thor, that someone was trying to tell him what to do, but, in true Tony Stark fashion, he was making a much larger fuss about it. Bruce had always been wary of Fury, for reasons that Steve didn't understand, but he seemed to be handling it. He hadn't Hulked out recently or anything, but Steve had noticed that he'd been snapping the band more and more often lately.

Steve had started spending more time on his own, not because he was pulling back and took this incident to mean that he couldn't trust anyone, but because he was trying to figure out how he felt. He had lost everything he used to guide his life, to make his decisions, and now he was unsure what to do.

"You are not exactly subtle with your feelings," Thor said. "You do not have to do this on your own."

"Everyone else seems to think that's the right solution," Steve said and, as if on cue, Tony's voice cut through the distance between the living room and Steve's bedroom.

Thor shrugged and shut the door, blocking out the sound. "So you will follow what others do rather than forge your own path?"

"I'm not a follower," Steve said. "None of us are. It's why we're such a mess. I just don't know what else to do." The words were accompanied by a defeated sigh, and Steve reached out to grab a pillow and put it over his face. His training hadn't prepared him for this. He knew how to track a Nazi extremist across Europe, he could destroy weapons factories, and he was pretty good with his shield, but all of this was foreign to him.

It was like Tony always told him. Steve, Captain America he corrected, was the executioner. He didn't think, that was the job of the people above him. He simply followed orders. Was that true? Steve didn't like to think of himself as a mindless war machine. He had disobeyed orders to go and rescue Bucky. Didn't that count for something? But this wasn't the same situation. Spying on Fury or defying his orders wasn't a suicide mission that would only hurt himself. It was bigger than that. It would have ramifications beyond what Steve could possibly imagine.

The pillow was gently pried from his arms, and Steve found himself looking up at Thor. His blonde hair fell past his ears, framing his face, and Steve wanted to reach up and push the locks out of the way. Thor had strong cheekbones, a determined jaw that should be constantly on display. It was no wonder he was king back on his world, Steve thought taking in the broad shoulders and the built chest that demanded that all attention be focused on him.

Thor probably never had any doubts. He couldn't afford to. Steve wondered what it was like to be that certain in your own convictions. The only thing Steve had ever believed that fervently was that he wanted to join the army, and look where that had gotten him.

"I wasn't made for this," Steve said, looking past Thor's shoulder. He couldn't look at the man anymore. "I need someone to believe in. Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine are dead, and Fury is no replacement."

A warm touch brought Steve's attention back to Thor, and there was a small smile curving Thor's lips as his hand cupped Steve's cheek. Steve tilted his head to the side, wondering why Thor was touching him. This was far more intimate than the usual back slaps Thor gave, the ones that could knock Steve over if he wasn't expecting them.

"Believe in yourself," Thor said.

Steve laughed and turned his head away, out of Thor's grasp. Figured he would say something so cliché. Thor didn't understand. The world had jumped ahead seventy years, and Steve was lost. He didn't understand half of what people were saying, he didn't understand any of the new technology, and he was afraid that his morals were no longer in fashion either. Had the world moved beyond them or should he try to hold onto them? He didn't know, and he didn't know who to turn to ask. He just didn't know.

Thor's hand grasped Steve's chin again, less gentle this time. He forced Steve's gaze up to him.

"If that is not enough, you can believe in me. That is what gods are for, correct?"

Thor's hand softened on Steve's chin, and he leaned forward until their foreheads were touching.

"We will make it through this," Thor said, his voice barely above a whisper but not lacking any of its usual conviction. "And that is an order."

Steve brought his hand up to clasp Thor's shoulder, but as his fingers curled around Thor's t-shirt, he felt more like he was clinging to him, desperate for anyone, anything to place his trust in. Thor wasn't of Earth, and he hadn't given up any of who he was because of that.

Steve remembered the low, heated argument Thor had had with Fury about the fate of the Tesseract and Loki. Thor had promised that Loki would face justice, not vengeance as many on Earth were demanding, and he had insisted that the Tesseract be somewhere where its power would not be abused.

Thor had placed faith in his values, and he had fought for them in front of one of the few men Steve admitted to being afraid of. Steve smiled, as he squeezed Thor's shoulder. Yes, he could believe in the god. He could also learn from him.


End file.
